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STARGHING MACHINE. No. 351,674.

Patentedflct; 26, 1886.

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ST'ARGHING MACHINE. No. 351,674. Patented Oct. 2-6, 1886f QQQQQQQQQLJmmmmmmm In yer; 247 Z": Frank M Wail: ins

N PETERS, Photo-lithography. Waahi m mmm c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK \VATKINS, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN T.\VEIGHELL, OF SAME PLACE.

STARCHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,674, dated October26, 1886.

Application filedNovember 7, 1885. Serial No. 182,096. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, FRANK M. WnTKrNs, ofCincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Starching-Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention consists in certain features of novelty, which arehereinafter particularly pointed out in the claims, being first fullydescribed with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a vertical section of the machine. Fig. 2 is an elevation of one endof the same, and Fig. 3 an elevation of the other end. Fig. 4 is a topview of the machine, showing the shirt lying onthe same as folded forstarching. Fig. 5 isa perspective view of the same parts as are shown byelevation in Fig. 2.

In all of the figures portions of the machine have been broken away forconvenience of rep- 'resentation.

A may represent a box or tank, which is partly filled with starchpaste,and is provided with a cover, B, and is supported on legs 0.

Within the box A are two parallel rock-shafts,

D D, which extend between and are j ournaled in the ends a, a of thebox. The rock-shafts D D carry paddles E and E, respectively, the

said paddles being secured to their respective rock-shafts by beingattached to arms F F of the same. The rock-shafts D D being, by means ofsuitablemechanism, reciprocated in opposite directions, the paddles E Eare caused to alternately rise toward and fall away from one another, soas in their highest position to press together, and in their lowestposition todip beneath the surface of the starch-paste in the tank A.When the paddles E E are brought together, their upper edges comeunderneath a pair of rollers, G G, which extend from end to end' of thebox A, and are capable, by means of suitable mechanism, of being broughttogether or moved apart. A slot, 1), is made in the lid B directly overthe space left between the rollers G G when they are separated, as shownin Figs; 3, 4, and 5.

The shirtHis prepared for starching by having its sleeves folded backand the wristbands brought around so as to lie within the collar, asshown in Fig. 4. The fore part of the shirt is then let down through theslot 12 and between the rollers G G, which are held apart untilthe'bosom and wristbands of thevshirt have passed down below them, andare then closed together, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to grip theshirt about on the line a a; in Fig. 4. The paddles E Eare now set inmotion, so as to fall and rise alternately between the positions (shownby dotted lines in Fig; l) in which they dip into the starch-paste, andthe positions "(shown by strong lines in same figure) in which theypress together, so as to squeeze the fore part of the shirt betweenthem, and thereby drive into its fibers the starch-paste which hasadhered to their surfaces. Wheu, by this means, the bosom and wristbandshave become thoroughlysaturated with starch-paste, the rollers G G arerotated, so as to wring out the surplus starch-paste from said bosom andwristbands, and at the same time expel them from the tank A.

The paddles E E are preferably of wood, for the sake of lightness andstiffness, andv are preferably faced with cloth, so as to increase theircapacity for taking up starch paste.

The rollers G G are preferably faced with india-rubber, so as to have anelastic and nonabsorbent surface.

The rollers G G discharge the several distinct functions of a clamp forclamping the goods to be starched, a wringcr for wringing out thesurplus starch, and an ejector for ejecting the starched goods from themachine.

The mechanism (shown in Figs. 3 and 4) which I prefer to employ forreciprocating the rock-shafts D D may be described as follows: Therock-shafts D D pass through and project beyond the end a of the box A,and on their parts which so project are provided with cranks d d, which,by means of connectingrods I I, are connected to crank-wheels J J,respectively. The crank-wheels J J are of the same diameter and geartogether, and the crank-wheel Jalso gears with apinion, K, on thedrive-shaft L, which extends along the back of the tank A. Rotation ofthe drive- IOO in opposite directions of said crank-wheels causesreciprocation in opposite directions of the said rock-shafts and theirattached starching-paddles between the position in which said paddlespress together and the position in which they dip into the starch-paste.The drive-shaft L, to one end of which is fastened the pinion K, carrieson its other end, side by side with one another, a fast pulley, M, and aloose pulley, N. A belt, 0, can be shifted from one to another of thesepulleys, so as to stop or start the machine, by means of a device whichis shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and which may be described as follows: Theloop or fork P, which incloses and guides the belt 0, is attached to aslide-bar, Q, which is capable of moving parallel to the drive shaft Lby sliding in boxes 1' of a supporting-bracket, R, which is fastened toone of thelcgs C on which the tank A is supported. Attached to the sameleg lower down, by means of a pivot, S, is a bent lever, T, whose arms tand t extend, respectively, upward and forward from the pivot S. Theupwardly-extending arm t carrieS at its top a plate, U, whose uppersurface is concentric with the pivot S and comes a little beneath thesole-plate of the bracket R.

A pin, V, fastened rigidly to the slidebar Q, passes down through aslot, r, in the soleplate of the bracket R and projects into an obliquegroove, u, in the upper face of the plate U. Depression and elevation ofthe forwardly-extending arm t of the bent lever T cause, respectively, aforward and a backward mot-ion of the other arm, 1., and the plate U.The direction of the groove 14 in theplate U is such that by theengagement of one or other of its walls with the pin V the forwardmotion of the plate U causes the slidebar Q and its attachedbelt-guiding fork P to be moved in such a direction as to shift the belt0 from the loose pulley N to the ;fast pulley M, while the backwardmotion of the plate U operates in a similar manner to shift said belt inthe reverse direction.

The plate U, in thus moving backward and forward, is supported againstthe sidewise thrust of the pin V in the groove to by sliding on one sideagainst the adjoining leg of the tank A, and on the other side against alug, 2", which projects downwardly from the soleplate of the bracket R.A spiral spring, XV, tends to draw up the arm t of the bent lever T, andthereby tends to hold the machine to the inactive condition, and torestore it to that condition at the instant of its release from theopposing depression of the arm t. To facilitate such depression of thesaid arm, it is provided with a treadle, t, at its front end. The armt,-near its front end, passes through and is guided by a slot, 7, in afixed plate, Y. When the said arm is depressed so as to set the machinein action, it can be pushed to one side, so that its upper edge catchesunder the upper edge of a notch, near the bottom of the slot 3 The arm tbeing thus held down,

the machine will continue to run until the said arm is pushed out ofsaid notch and allowed to be drawn up by the spiral spring \V.

The mechanism I prefer to use for imparting the requisite motions to thegripping and wringing rollers G G may be described as follows: The shaft9 of the forward roller, G, is journaled in the ends a a of the box ortank A. The shaft of the rear roller, G, is journaled in a swingingframe, Z, so as to enable the rear roller, G, to be brought against orseparated from the forward roller, G. The swinging frame Z consists of arock-shaft, z, journaled in standards 1 and 2, and having at each end adownwardly-extending arm, 3 or 4, in which is journaled thecorresponding end of the roller-shaft g. The arm 4 is prolongeddownwardly below the roller-shaft g, and in its lower part is providedwith a slot, A bent lever, 6, carries at the junction of its two arms, 78, a roller, 9, which, by the rocking of said bent lever 6 on a pivot,10, at the end of its arm 8, is made to traverse in the slot 5, and bypressing against one or other of the walls of said slot to move theswinging frame Z backward or forward. To effect such rocking motion ofthe bent lever 6, the end of its arm 7 is connected by a rod, 11, to thetrcadlearm t, and the positions of the working parts above described aresuch that elevation and depression of the treadle-arm tcause,respectively, the separation and the coming together of the rollers G G.The starching-paddles D D are thus brought into action at the same timethat the shirt is clamped between the rollers G G. The pivot 10 passesthrough a slot, 12, in a supportingplate, 13, which is rigidly attachedto the box A. A nut, 14, is screwed onto the end of the pivot 10, so asto press against one side of the plate 13 and to cause a shoulder, 15,on the pivot 10 to press against the other side of the said plate,thereby clamping the pivot 10 to the plate 13. By loosening the nut 14and moving the pivot 10 one way or the other in the slot 12, and thenscrewing up the nut 14 again, the pivot 10 can be adjusted backward orforward,so as to adjust the limit of forward motion of the roller G,which can thus be made to grip theshirt with any desired pressure. Toenable the pivot 10 to support the backward thrust, which is broughtupon it when the shirt is being gripped, a setscrew, 16, is tapped intothe plate 13 at the back of the slot l2,and screwed forward until itsend presses against the back of the said pivot. The ends of theroller-shaft g are journaled in boxes 5 which are contained in recesses17 of the arms 3 and 4. Each of said boxes is capable of slidingbackward and forward in its corresponding recess, but is held normallyforward by the pressure of a spiral spring, 18, which is placed betweenthe back of the box and the back of the recess. By this means the rollerG is enabled to yield a little in gripping the shirt, so as to avoidundue strain of any of the parts of the rollershifting mechanism, andthe breakage of buttons on the shirt.

To rotate the rollers G G, so as to wring out the shirt and expel thesame from the machine, I prefer to employ the mechanism about to bedescribed. Theroller-shaft 9 projects beyond both ends of the box A, andon one of itsextremities carries a fast pulley, 19. (See Figs. ,2 and4.) Around this fast pulley and another fast pulley, 20, on thedrive-shaft L, passes a belt, 21, which is normally so slack as not totransmit motion from the pulley 20 to the pulley 19, but may be made toeffect such transmission by being tightened over said pulleys by meansof a tightening-roller, 22. This roller is carried by a lever, 23, whichis journaled on the drive-shaft L, and is normally held by a spiralspring, 24, to thc'position in which the roller 32 does not operate totighten the belt. To enable the lever 23 to be thrown-into the positionfor tightening the belt, itis provided at its front end with a bandle,25. The roller-shaft g, to one extremity of which the pulley 19 isfastened, carries on its other extremity a cog-wheel, 26, which, whenthe roller G is brought forward and the roller-shaft 9 set in rotation,gears with and drives a similar cog-wheel, 27, on the correspondingextremity of the roller-shaft 9', so as to cause the rollers G and G torotate synchronously and in opposite directions.

The rock-shafts D D, where they pass through the end a. of the tank A,are surrounded by stuffing-boxes 28, to prevent leakage of thestarch-paste.

A steam-pipe, 29, passes into the tank A, and is perforated, as at 30,to allow steam to escape into said tank. A valve, 31, serves to regulatethe amount of steam which thus escapes. A mixture of starch and waterhaving'been put into the tank. the steam is turned on, so as to boilsaid mixture and convert it into starch-paste. The steam is then turnedoff, so as to allow the starch-paste to cool'to the right temperature,at which it is finally maintained by turning the steam partly on.,

A tap or spigot, 32, in the bottom of the tank A, enables any surplus orresidual starchpaste to be drawn or blown out. p

I claim as new and of my invention 1. The combination, with thestarch-tank and a clamp for supporting therein the article to bestarched, of the beaters or paddles E E, incapable of movement in theplanes of their working-surfaces, and means for imparting thereto ato-and-fro motion, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I I2. In a starching-machine, the combination,- with the tank and a clampfor supporting therein the article to be starched, 'of the beaters orpaddles E E, rock-shafts D D, to which they are respectively secured,confined against athwart the tank, of the driving-shaft, gearingconnecting said driving-shaft and rockshafts, a fast and loose pulleyupon said driving-shaft, and a belt-shifterfor shifting the belt fromone to the other, substantially as set forth.

4. In a starching-machine, the combination, with the tank A and thebeaters E E, of the relatively movable wringing-rollers G G and meansfor bringing them together and moving them asunder, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a starching machine, the tank, the beaters, and means forvibrating said beaters, the relatively movable wriuger-rollers, andmeans for changing their distance asunder, in combination with a singletreadle and connections between said treadle and the means for vibratingthe beaters and moving the rollers, substantially asand for the purposeset forth.

6. In astarching-machine, the combination of beaters E E, shafts D D,carrying said beaters and journaled' in and athwart the starch-tank, andhaving cranks d d, matchgear crank-wheels J J, rods I 1, connecting saidcrank-wheels with cranks d d, and means for optionally rotating saidcrank-wheels, substantially as and for the purpose explained.

7. In a starching-machine, the combination of beaters E E, journaled inthe starch-tank, means for optionally vibrating said beaters, roller G,in fixed bearings and having optional connection with the driving power,roller G, movable to and from the roller G, and cogwheels 26 and 27,secured tothe respective rollers G G, and adapted to intermesh when saidrollers are brought into close proximity,

I substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a starching-machine, the combination of stationary driving-rollerG, driven roller G, journal-boxes g, swinging frames Z, rockshaft 2,arms 3 4, the latter having slot 5, recesses 17, secured to said arms 34 and receiving and guiding the boxes 9, springs 18, holding said boxesforward in recesses 17, bent lever 6, having adjustable fulcrum 10, andstud or roller 9, engaging in slots 5, treadle T, and rod 11, connectingthe treadle and lever 6, substantially as'and for the purposesspecified.

In testimony of which invent-ion I hereunto set my hand.

FRANK M. WATKINS.

Attest:

RANKIN D. J oNEs, A. P. KNIGHT.

